


Whispers in the Dark

by CaitRambles



Category: Bon Appétit Test Kitchen RPF, Chef RPF
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Midnight swim shenannigans
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-11
Updated: 2019-08-11
Packaged: 2020-08-19 01:33:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,471
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20201545
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CaitRambles/pseuds/CaitRambles
Summary: Whispers in the darkSteal a kiss and you'll break your heartPick up your clothes and curl your toesLearn your lesson, lead me homeOr, Claire feels overwhelmed in New York. A quick break with her favourite people leaves her feeling more at home.





	Whispers in the Dark

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by the recent Instagram stories of the Test Kitchen crew on their Cape Cod expedition. If anybody needs me around the time of that video release, I may be in a Claire-induced crisis...
> 
> The title is from the Mumford and Sons song.  
How could I not name my first fic after my one true favourite band? 
> 
> Standard RPF warnings apply. The F in RPF stands for fiction - don't alert the people involved, don't make anyone uncomfortable, let's all have a good time here.

No-one was as surprised as Claire when Gourmet Makes took off. At first, she wasn’t sure why anyone would want to watch her complain for days on end, frustrated with the process of replicating things made by machines in factories, not one chef in a kitchen. She’d always worked hard during her time at Bon Appétit, but it was only since people had started singing her praises on Youtube and as her viewership skyrocketed that she slowly started to feel burnout creeping in. It was when she was truly exhausted, both physically and mentally, that life in New York started to grate on her. The noise, the constant presence of people sometimes felt like too much. Though she’d lived in cities most of her life, it was at times like these that she felt less at home. She needed to get out of there for a while, and she wasn’t alone in the feeling.

By mid-summer in New York, everyone was going a little bit crazy. The test kitchen team had spent weeks watching the city empty out, as people escaped to the outdoors and further from the sweltering humidity. A few years ago Bon Appetit had implemented a mid-summer retreat that was both work and pleasure - recipe testing and a bit of content filming, but also a time for the team to unwind in the company of colleagues who were more like a family. This year Claire had offered the use of her family’s holiday home in Cape Cod, which backed onto a lake perfect for both clamming and swimming. They’d spent a couple of days enjoying each other’s company, before heading back into the city the next afternoon.

Claire loves the test kitchen crew, but after two days of having them in her space it looks as though a bomb has hit. There are dishes to be done, and it seems as though most of her things are out of place. She thinks to herself that she really can’t complain. Spending time with some of her closest friends in one of her favourite places has been exactly what she needed after months of stress. Besides, she finds the cleaning up quite cathartic in the still moments after everyone else has gone to bed. A quiet had settled over the house, the kind that only comes in the late hours following chaos.

She’s putting a dish of leftovers into the fridge when she senses she’s being watched. Brad is leaning against the door frame, looking on as she putters around the kitchen. 

‘Hey, couldn’t sleep?’  
He flashes her a guilty grin, realising he’s been caught watching her.

‘Well I couldn’t leave you on your own now, could I? You’d be here ‘til next Christmas, maybe more.’ He comes fully into the kitchen, and starts drying dishes. 

They settle into a familiar, easy rhythm, working through the last of the clean-up almost on autopilot. Claire smiles softly, marvelling at the way Brad seems to be running on half speed. In their day to day lives he’s always on the go, bright and loud in a way that makes people question if he’s more oversized golden retriever puppy than human. It’s almost strange to see him so quiet. 

They’re almost done with the clean-up when she catches him staring out of the window, into the dark night. She grabs a couple of beers from the fridge and sidles up to Brad, bumping her hip into his side and knocking him out of his reverie.

‘Come on, let’s sneak out,’ she suggests, a look of unashamed glee crossing her face.

‘Of your own house?’ 

‘Yep. Just like I did as a teenager.’

‘YOU? CLAIRE! Goody two shoes, Half-Sour Saffitz?’ 

She quickly shushes his surprised exclamation, not wanting to wake up any of their sleeping friends. She heads out the door and down the path towards the lake, not checking to see if he was following. She sits on the edge of the low jetty, and puts her feet in the water before laying back and taking in the stars blanketing the sky. Brad sits beside her, he can’t help but watch how the soft moonlight plays across her face as she takes a drink.

‘So what had you gazing off into the mid-distance, hmm? If you’d have thought much harder I might have seen smoke coming out of your ears.’ She looks up at him, where he’s practically sitting over her. 

Oh, y’know…’ he trails off, and she certainly doesn’t know, but also doesn’t want to pry.

‘I spent so many summers here growing up,’ she muses, steering the topic away. ‘Summer in the city is just never the same. It’s too loud, and you never see the stars. I try to come out here every year, it recharges my sanity just a little bit.’ She settles her hands under her head, relaxing even more into the summer night. Although she’s usually here alone, it feels right to have him here in her moment of escape. His presence isn’t jarring, as she’d once assumed it would be. Strangely enough, he never fails to calm her, and that’s a train of thought she’s currently trying to push aside.

‘I’d never taken you for someone who was restless in the city, Claire’. She shrugs.  
‘I getcha,’ he sympathises. ‘It’s better now that I travel more, out n about with the ole show or whatever, but you spend too long in the big smoke and it’s enough to send you loopy. Or, well, more loopy than normal.’ He pauses.  
‘Hey Claire, where’s your phone?’ Brad asked, careful not to change his tone.  
‘Charging in the kitchen, why?’ she responded, thinking nothing of it, her response time slowed by a good meal, good company and maybe a beer too many.  
He chuckles softly and then stands, and she wonders if he’s going to head to bed before she realises he’s taking off his shoes, followed by his shirt.

‘Oh no, no!’ she hisses as she realises what’s about to happen, still aware how close they are to the house. She knows she can’t act fast enough to get away from him. All she can do is set down her beer before she’s being scooped up into strong arms, giggling uncontrollably. Within seconds, she finds herself in the warm water of the lake, still being held close to Brad. She splashes water into his face, before sweeping the hair out of her eyes.  
‘I don’t know why you expected anything else from me,’ he grins down at her, and he’s right. She really should have known better. 

It only then occurs to her that he’s still holding onto her waist, his thumbs brushing she soft skin where her shirt has ridden up. She’s suddenly fixated on his touch, aware of being so close to his bare chest. He’s watching her, searching her expression for hesitation, but making no effort to move. When his eyes drop to her mouth, her breath catches. She feels as though this moment was inevitable from the start. What she now realises has been months, if not years of tension thrums right beneath the surface, reaching breaking point as he closes the distance between them. There’s nothing tentative about their first kiss. He kisses her with certainty, spreading a warmth right to her toes. He brings a hand into her hair, changing the angle to deepen the kiss.  
‘God, Brad…’ she says as little more than an exhale when they break for air.  
‘About time, huh?’ He laughs, before kissing her again. 

‘Come on, let’s go in,’ he murmurs after a moment, voice rough. She shivers, from a combination of the breeze on her wet skin and his voice in her ear. 

As they stand in the grass waiting to dry he pulls her close, his hands under her wet shirt, neither wanting to stop touching just in case this was a dream, the kind they would both try to deny having. She wonders if she should pinch herself, but instead turns her attention back to Brad, warm and real in front of her.

* * *

As they’re laying in her bed, she can’t help but look back on the past year or so. It’s only in hindsight she realises just how long they’d been circling each other. This was the middle of a story, rather than the beginning. She knows that whatever is happening between them isn’t just a holiday fling. There’s things her logical brain will want to overthink - they’re close friends, and colleagues. There’s a lot to work out, but for tonight, it can wait. She drifts off to sleep, his warmth surrounding her, feeling more at home than ever.

* * *

If Chris watches Brad disappear back into Claire’s room the next morning, two cups of coffee in hand, he certainly doesn’t say anything...

**Author's Note:**

> I'm back! This is the first work I've posted on this account and in almost 5 years, so please be patient with me! 
> 
> I am SO. UNBELIEVABLY. IN. LOVE. with Claire Saffitz. Send help, I need an intervention. 
> 
> I'm orchestratedemotion on Tumblr, @caitrambles on twitter, or lurking in the comments. Come say hi!


End file.
